When Bullets Fly free: Civil War
by The Teddy Bear
Summary: When Agent Kim Frost is removed from her school, it's no big shock. What is a big shock is when Coulson picks her up in a helicopter during maths. Now she's back doing what she does best: spying. But when the government introduces a registration act, Kim is caught between the drama that unfurls around her, Laura, and S.H.I.E.L.D. itself. Kind-of sequel to Bullets From Nowhere/WBMTM
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

Kim Frost sat with her head balanced on one hand, staring aimlessly out of a window as a maths teacher babbled on and on in front of her making no sense whatsoever. The summer sun was torture to see, the grassy field sprinkled with strikingly white and pure Daisies, and students doing PE. There was a buzz in her ear and she sighed, turning on her comm to listen to what Coulson had to say this time…  
"Frost?" came his smooth voice inside her ear.  
"mm?" she replied, trying not to make it look like she was talking to herself in front of her fellow year 11's.  
"There's been a slight development in Hydra's movements. They're retreating to Europe and closer to you. I'm coming now with May to pick you up. Watch the skies and I'll see you soon." He sharply said before the line went dead.

 _Oh Jesus. They're coming and they're going to land in the school field again. There goes my social life._

Kim tried desperately to ignore her ears which were straining desperately over the annoying noise of her immature classmates to find any trace of an aircraft coming over her classroom as she worked on her algebraic formula.

A=πr2

Was that a helicopter blade?

 _Shut up!_

36⁴=

Is that an aircraft engine?

 _Go away!_

"Kim! Can you tell us how to calculate the length of the hypotenuse side of a triangle?"  
Her teacher's annoyingly shrill voice jolted Kim out of her frenzying thoughts. She jumped and looked around wildly for a second.  
"Sorry what was that?" She asked, her eyes widening as she tried to send a signal to anyone: HELP!  
"Oh my God is that a helicopter?!" Came a voice from just in front of her.  
Kim turned rapidly towards the window where she saw a sleek, black helicopter descend onto to the school field and a man with a dark suit and sunglasses jump out.  
By now the entire class had gathered by the window, pointing and shrieking as the headmaster strode along the playground and onto the field to subsequently yell at the man in sunglasses. Something was quickly agreed as soon as the man showed a badge of some kind to the headmaster and was led away with another woman in the direction of the school.  
"What the hell just happened?" shouted Paige Roberts from the window, staring angrily around at the class, trying to find someone to blame.  
"D'you reckon it was those Hydra guys from the news?" shouted Casper Clark from behind her  
"Oh my God are they here to kidnap us?" Came Olivia Lawrence's voice from the crowd, hints of panic in her voice.  
"Not likely, maybe Mr. Fullmun is conspiring with them!" came the cocky voice of Jamie Gregg

"Everybody sit down now!" Their teacher's voice shouted across the classroom at them. The class slowly made their way back to their seats immediately; getting on her bad side was not something anyone wanted to do. "I can promise that Mr. Fullmun is not conspiring with Hydra. And I don't know who those people are so shall we stop asking and get on with some work? You can all stare at the helicopter at break."

Kim closed her eyes and sighed… it wouldn't be long before they came for her, or sent someone for her. Coulson could never learn to be discreet when it came to things like this.  
There was a knock on the door, and a year 8 scuttled into the room, holding a green note. Everyone knew what that meant. Headmaster's office. She handed it to the teacher then rushed back through the door.  
"Kim? It's for you." Said the teacher, raising her eyebrows jokingly. "Bring all your stuff, I don't think you'll be coming back."  
"No I defiantly won't be." She joked back, putting her blazer back on and swinging her bag over her shoulder.  
"What did you do Kim?" shouted Paige, her eyes alight with malice.  
"It's probably about my job." Said Kim casually as she got up and started to walk towards the door.  
"Where do you work?" Cameron shouted back, his voice already preparing to laugh at her.  
"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." Said Kim with the most serious look she had ever pulled on her face. She swung open the door and walked out, laughing hysterically as she walked down the corridor… she _finally_ got her James Bond moment.

* * *

"So you understand sir, Kim needs to be taken away for her own safety as well as that of the school's."  
Mr. Fullman nodded thoughtfully, staring intently at Kim with his piercing green eyes.  
"Miss Frost, are you sure this man is telling the truth? If you leave now, you won't be able to take your GCSE's here. Are you really sacrificing your future to go back to the United States?" he asked in the most patronising voice Kim had ever heard.  
"I'm sure sir. The states are the best place for me now. Besides, I can take them over there; my tutor will be able to get hold of the papers easily."  
"Alright then. If you're sure. It was nice knowing you my dear." He said, shaking Kim's hand before she was lead out by Coulson and May.

"What. The. Hell. Coulson?" Asked Kim, her voice getting more dangerous with every syllable as they walked through the playground and towards the helicopter.  
"It's for your own safety Kim. Hydra will surely target you next if you stay here." Coulson explained, his voice full of pity.  
"How can you be sure of that?" She snapped, striding ahead of the two agents as they passed her maths classroom. There were catcalls when they saw her and she glared as she strode past, wishing she had her gun on her.  
"I'm sure because it's happened before. You've heard of Laura Stark?" asked Coulson, his voice becoming even more serious.  
"Of course, she's only Tony Stark's illegitimate daughter who just so happens to have dated Steve Rogers _and_ she was a S.H.I.E.L.D agent… but she's, well, dead isn't she? How does that apply to me?" Kim suddenly got curious. She had read Laura's file when she was last at the Playground; killed at the hand of Agent Ward in Washington a few years ago.  
"She's not dead. Very much alive actually and a pain in my neck at the moment, but she was shot, kidnapped and brainwashed to do Hydra's bidding. You're just as deadly as she is, and we don't want someone like you falling into the wrong hands."  
"She's alive?" Asked Kim incredulously, turning around to face Coulson and May, walking backwards to talk to them.  
"Very much so." Muttered May, exchanging a smirk with Coulson.  
Kim nodded thoughtfully as she clambered into the helicopter.  
"Please tell me we're not flying to the states in this thing?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.  
"Of course not. The bus is at some airport near here and we'll rendezvous with the rest of my team there. They're currently on a mission in Paris, should be back within the hour."


	2. Chapter 1: Bullets From Nowhere

_Six months_ later

Kim, Natasha and Steve rounded a corner and were immediately met with resistance. The bullets whipped past their skin, none quite meeting their mark, but close enough that the next few could do some serious damage.

"This is pathetic." Muttered Natasha, and turned to shoot their two assailants, wasting only one bullet.

"Where to now?" asked Kim into her earpiece, and the British lilt of Laura Stark came into their ears.

"Down this corridor and to the left. There you'll find the Winter Soldier program's facilities. Steve, if he's anywhere, he'll be here."

Steve gave a small hum of response and took off down the corridor, Natasha and Kim at his heels.

"What makes you so sure Bucky's even here?" called Kim, struggling to keep up with the older, more experienced Avengers.

"It's a Russian facility. He was brought back by the Soviets. Any more evidence required?" shouted back Steve.

"Also this place is called Объект Зимняя для упавших солдат, or The Winters facility for fallen Soldiers. Winter Soldier. They didn't exactly make it hard." Laughed Natasha, executing the Russian in a faultless accent.

They took the corridor to the right, and were met with a set of steel double doors. Nat and Steve stood aside and Kim rushed forwards, whipping out her sat phone and using it to decipher the code for the door.

5491.

She typed in the code, and the doors swung open.

The warehouse that the doors revealed was massive, spacious and foreboding. There was a rush of cold air that blew Natasha and Kim's hair behind their faces. The most disturbing factor… it was completely deserted.

"I don't like this… I've got a sort of… bad feeling." Muttered Kim.

Then, gunshots from nowhere. They ducked behind a small cart to the right of the doors as Natasha started aimlessly firing back at invisible targets, ghosts.

Then there was a movement; a man started charging towards them, using a bin lid as a shield against Natasha's constant onslaught of bullets. He reached her, tripped, and fell straight on top of her.

She rolled away and stood up, aiming her gun at him once more. Then she faltered.

"I-Ivan?" she said, she voice quivering as tears clearly sprung to her eyes. Then there was nothing but fear in the assassin's face as the man gave an evil grin and getting up slowly.

"Natalia. So good to see you again." He had a thick accent; Russian.

Steve stepped forwards and put his hand on her shoulder as Kim hissed down her earpiece at Laura, asking her what was going on.

Natasha jumped at Steve's touch, her face panic-stricken and pale.

Who was he? How could one man make the most fierce and strong woman Kim knew turn into this?

"I-I wish I could r-r-return the compliment." Natasha said, the desperate struggle for control evident in her voice.

She started to hyperventilate, her face growing paler and paler with every breath, before her knees gave out and she collapsed into a crouch, her hands on top of her head.

Suddenly the panicked voice of Laura entered Kim's head.

"Kim… get out of there now. Out! Get out right now! None of you are safe. Steve, you can come back and get Bucky another time, GET OUT NOW!" she shouted, before being replaced with Coulson.

"Frost, get them out of there. Natasha can't handle this without… just get out. Bucky can wait, right now we focus on Natasha. Get. Her. Out." his voice was calm, so much so that it was scaring Kim.

"Yes sir. I'll try my best." She said, before aiming a gun at this 'Ivan'.

"Tell me who you are now or I'll shoot." She said, her voice dangerous and threatening.

"Ivan Petrovitch Bezukhov. I trained Natalia here." He said in his thick accent, a sick humour in his harsh tones. "Natalia did I train you to become a snivelling mess every time you see a familiar face?" he addressed Natasha now, a sadistic smile on his bearded face.

"Don't speak to her. Don't look at her. Don't breathe around her. Don't even think about her. Clear?" Kim asked, confidence growing.

"Crystal." He answered, his smile growing more and more psychotic by the second.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"This is the Black Widow program. The name's just a ruse. I designed it to train the best of the best." He said, still smiling.

"Now we're gonna go. You're gonna stay exactly where you are. Steve, pick up Natasha and get behind me now. You're gonna stay right there until we leave this place. Understood?" she asked as Steve crept around her to scoop up Natasha and slip towards the door.

"Understood." He was still smiling. Why was he doing that? Almost like he knew somethi-

"Steve?" asked Kim, making sure he was still behind her.

"Yeah?" he replied in a whisper.

"It's a trap. We're gonna be attacked." She muttered back, never for a second taking her eyes off Ivan.

Then there was madness. The bullets from nowhere started up again, and Natasha sprung out of Steve's arms and into action, like she was on a sort of autopilot. She ran at Ivan, getting him to the ground in a blink of an eye, as three armour-clad men appeared through the doors they had just come through and attacked Steve. Kim aimed her gun at Ivan, but never getting a good shot for fear of hurting Natasha. There was a noise from behind her, and Kim was faced with several more masked soldiers, all armed, not with guns, but with a knife each. She ran at them, disarming the first in an instant and using his weapon to slash wildly at the onslaught of soldiers. She felt a knife scrape at her left thigh as a pain spread rapidly through her left leg. She used her right to kick this particular assailant and knocked him out cold. Then she was greeted to a knife to the throat, which she hastily responded to by stamping on his foot and ducking underneath the knife, gaining a small cut to the cheek. She stabbed out once again, and then was met with no resistance as she stood in the middle of the out-cold bodies of the soldiers.

Then there was a scream, and Natasha was pinned to the ground with a knife to her neck.

Steve too was pinned to the ground, with another soldier aiming a gun at him.

Kim reached up to her ear. "Coulson, we need maximum backup now! Hello? Coulson? Laura? Anyone?" No-one answered her pleas as she looked helplessly between the two scenes.

Kim didn't know what to do. She felt herself loose control as tears started to well in her eyes, her face flushed and she started to shake.

Then the doors were smashed open and Coulson and Laura rushed in, followed by Tony, Skye, May, Clint and a smattering of other S.H.I.E.L.D agents.

Ivan stood his ground as Laura gestured for Kim. She tiptoed over, her breathing claming down as she went to the back of the group.

Natasha was whimpering as Ivan pressed the knife closer to her throat.

Then Natasha made a noise.

"What was that my little spider?" asked Ivan, the sadism in his voice so present it could have cut the room in two.

"C-Clint…" she said, trying to turn.

"Clint? Who is this Clint?" asked Ivan, looking accusingly at the group of S.H.I.E.L.D agents. He got up and pushed his knife into Coulson's face, drawing a small amount of blood as Laura slipped around him and knelt by Natasha, trying to help her up.

Clint drew his gun and stepped forwards towards Ivan.

"Hi." He drawled, spreading his other arm out as if to say ' _that's my name, don't wear it out_ '

Kim rolled her eyes. _Typical_.

"I don't think so child." Ivan said, turning to look at Laura ever so slightly.

Big mistake.

Laura used his moment of distraction to her advantage, grabbed her icer and shot the man above Steve as Coulson did the same to Ivan. More people came running behind them, attacking the group from behind. But instead of soldiers like the others, they were girls. Little girls from around the ages of five to sixteen.

"Use icers only!" shouted Coulson above the noise. "Laura, Steve, Kim, get Natasha out of here! Be careful!"

Laura, Steve and Kim looked each other, and each took a different person. Kim ran at the unconscious body of Ivan as Steve ran at the barely conscious Natasha, who was still muttering Clint's name on the floor. She slipped one arm over her shoulders and ran through a different exit on the other side of the warehouse, Laura and Steve in hot pursuit. Clint joind them within thirty seconds, taking control of Natasha and carrying her bridal style down the corridor.

They reached the bus without fuss, and dumped Ivan into the interrogation room.

"Laura, I want a word in a minute." Steve said with a dangerous tone.

Laura paled and nodded, before focusing on Natasha.

"Kim, call FitzSimmons. They're on the bus somewhere and they can help her. I'll put her in the lab."

Kim nodded as Laura put Natasha's other arm over her shoulders and Clint replacing Kim, giving her the chance to slip free and quickly ascend the staircase.

They helped Natasha slowly into the lad, and lay her down on the table as Fitz and Simmons came running into the lab. Clint leaned against a desk in the far corner and raised an eyebrow; he wasn't moving.

"Laura can you give us some room?" was all Fitz said as he slung his lab coat on. Simmons didn't even acknowledge her presence as she started to attend to her patient.

Laura sighed and walked out.

Kim was stood in her bunk when she heard shouting from outside. Steve.

"I can't believe you, Laura! You put yourself in danger once and now again. You can't keep doing this in your state!"

"Well what was I supposed to do? Your life, the only other life I care about on this earth, was threatened. What do you think I would do if I never saw you again without having the chance to redeem myself! I had to go!" Laura shouted back.

Kim raised her eyebrows at her closed door and tried to ignore them as the shouting continued. It was going to be a long night.


	3. Chapter 2: Shit

"She'll be okay." Finished Simmons, looking around at the assembled team. Natasha was still unconscious and muttering Clint's name every few minutes, but Simmons had determined that she was just suffering from shock and a panic attack. Short version: she would be fine.

"But I need to assess everyone who went on that operation in case of injuries or anything similar." She said, and turned to Laura, who was already starting to complain. "Especially you." She said with a twinkle in her eye. Laura threw her head beck and groaned loudly, earning a small laugh from Steve, before he regained his composure and a frown. There was an awkward eye contact between them before Coulson spoke.

"Thanks Simmons, you can go." he said, smiling slightly.

"Yes sir. And just a warning, the television is Fitz, Hunter, Laura and Kim and I's tonight. It's Doctor Who night." She said with a devilish smile and a wink at Fitz as she rejoined the group facing Coulson.

"Alright everyone, back to it. And make sure to take it easy on Nat." said Coulson, smiling at them before going to check on May.

* * *

 _~Two months later~_

"We will sing to you, Doctor. The universe will sing you to your sleep. This story is ending, but the story never ends."

Kim had a tear rolling down her cheek. Simmons was sobbing and Fitz was weeping. Hunter was already wiping tears from his eyes. This part got them every single time. Why they chose this episode, Kim would never know, but she watched, heartbroken, as her favourite Doctor entered the TARDIS for the last time.

"No… no don't say it!" muttered Fitz, furiously wiping tears from his eyes as the camera panned around for the Doctor to say his final words.

"I don't wanna go."

"No!" moaned Simmons as the orange flames started around the Doctor's hands and neck. The regeneration began and they all collapsed into weeping messes as the tenth Doctor took his last bow.

Then there was Eleven in all his uncoordinated house cat glory taking his first steps.

And the episode ended.

"Why the hell did we watch that?" asked Simmons, rubbing the last traces of her mascara from her eyes as she sat up and grabbed the remote and flicked through the channels, finally resting on BBC news.

"God knows…" muttered Hunter, getting up to, no doubt, grab a beer from the nearby fridge.

The neutral voice of a newsreader cut through their conversation as Hunter started to walk back.

"And as reports start to flood in about what exactly caused the Stanford Disaster, it has come to light that it was, in fact, a small team of largely unknown superhumans that were that source of the blast that killed over 300 people. We now go to our New York correspondent in the remains of Stanford High School."

"Jesus" muttered Hunter, sauntering over to where the others sat with his beer.

"Makes me wonder why we weren't there monitoring the situation." Said Kim without taking her eyes off the screen.

Then the report changed to something new, and their eyes widened and Hunter dropped his beer in shock.

"I need to see if Coulson knows." Whispered Kim, and she got up and sprinted to the directors office.

* * *

Steve and Laura were sat together, the television blaring ' _Once Upon A Time_ ' (request of Laura). The credits started, and Steve stood, smiling softly at the half-awake Laura, who sleepily returned the smile before reaching for the controller and changing to the news.

He strolled into their small kitchen and made a cup of tea for Laura and a coffee for himself; then returned to sit next to Laura as the newscaster started reading a piece of breaking news that made both Laura and Steve's blood run cold.

* * *

"Pep, have you seen this?" shouted Tony from across the room in the newly-renovated Avengers tower. Pepper tiptoed over to Tony, who was on his laptop, and peered over his shoulder to see the news.

"Oh my god." She muttered, glancing at Tony, who was grinning.

"This is the best thing that could've happened after all that Hydra shit. I'm going for this. 100%" he said, opening his emails and starting to type a message to Coulson.

* * *

Natasha walked in the rain away from the graveyard, wiping away the traces of sadness from her face, Clint falling into step beside her. Bruce's grave. She just needed to talk more about her recent encounter with Ivan, and the last couple of missions she had been on. It wasn't the same without him. She stalked up the steps to their apartment and switched on the TV, barely looking at Clint. Her eyes widened and she froze, staring blankly at the screen. Clint dropped the cupcake he was stuffing in his mouth. She reached for her phone and dialled a random number she knew from memory.

"Hello?" Came Steve's voice from the other end. He sounded angry; scared even.

"Have you heard?" Natasha gushed into the phone, getting up and starting to pace around the room.

"This is bad."

* * *

"Bobbi, can you throw me a soda?" yelled Skye from across the bus.

Bobbi looked up from her phone, where she was texting Mack, rolled her eyes, then reached into the fridge and pulled out a can, which she threw half-heartedly at Skye, who caught it with one swift movement without even looking at Bobbi.  
The plane was currently cruising over the South Pacific, with Bobbi, Skye and May in the television room and Mack in the garage. Coulson and the rest of the team were back at the Playground.

"May, Bobbi… look at this." Said Skye, almost in a daze as she read the news on her laptop. From where it was placed on the coffee table, her soda can started to shake slightly and Skye squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, before staring directly at the can as it slowly stopped rattling.

May looked at her warily for a moment before looking over her shoulder and her usually blank face paled and she stared at Skye with a worried look.

"What are you gonna do?" asked Bobbi, looking at Skye with eyes full of pity.

"I- I don't know." Muttered Skye, tears forming in her eyes.

* * *

"Peter have you seen this?" shouted Mary-Jane, looking at the CNN website on her IPad across from Peter Parker who leaned over and put an arm around her as he looked down.

"No…" he said his face going chalk white, then grass green then back to and even chalkier white.

"Peter what does this mean for you?" asked MJ, brushing her hair out of her face and staring at peter.

"I need to see Tony… now." He said, before getting up, striding to the door and walking out, running his hands through his hair.

* * *

" _Breaking news from congress today as they agree to pass the superhuman registration act, where every superhuman must register their name and secret identities for safe-keeping in a secret vault in the White House. This comes after the Stanford Disaster, caused by a group of superhumans getting out of control. We now await statements from superheroes such as Tony Stark also known as Iron Man and Captain Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America and their fellow Avenger teammates."_


	4. Chapter 3: That Escalated Quickly

**A/N**

 **Hello, hello, hello!**

 **Just to say, in the gap between the last fic and this one, a version of Age of Ultron did happen, but Quicksilver didn't die. That is why he and Scarlett Witch appear in this story and throughout the rest of it...**

Kim was running her hands through her hair as Tony and Steve were locked in a shouting match across Coulson's office. Stood next to her was a, now clearly, pregnant Laura, looking helplessly at the two with one of her pale hands over her mouth.

"Stark can you stop talking for one minute?" Shouted Coulson over the top of Tony yelling something about 'responsibility'.

"What?" He half yelled, turning away from his son-in-law.

Coulson glared at him for a second, before closing his eyes for a second.

"We need to be united right now. You two _especially_ can't be fighting now. Not after everything you two have achieved together. I realise that this will affect both of you but it will affect us all. Skye will have to register. Wanda and Pietro will have to register. Even Thor will have to, and you two are using this as an excuse to fight again. It's not just you two we have to think about. So stop being _selfish_ and start acting like grown-ups." He said, looking at both of them with a look of utter distaste and loathing before turning and walking over to Kim and Laura.

"Are you two okay? How's everything going Laura?" he asked, the natural kindness returning to his face.

"Getting there. At the moment a little bit nervous about what will happen and how it will effect this little guy's future." She said, smiling softly but never meeting his eyes.

Kim looked away, her eyes resting on Skye in the next room, who was feeling her pulse and shaking violently. She had her eyes closed and was smiling softly at what May was saying to her. The room shook slightly and Kim felt Laura grab her arm to steady herself. Skye suddenly had tears running down her face and she stood up and the trembling stopped.

Steve walked forward, and touched Laura's arm softly. She gave him a half smile and followed him out of Coulson's office, waving goodbye as they went.

Then Tony stormed forward, his voice raising.

"He can't just _lead_ my daughter out of here without giving her a chance to express her opinion. Laura!" He shouted the last part, and Laura turned around slowly from the corridor outside Coulson's office.

"Yes?" she asked, in a small voice the Kim had never heard her use before.

"Is that it then? You're becoming a fugitive and turning your back on me for him?" he asked, his voice shaking.

Steve whipped around and stood in front of Laura, more rage than ever clear on his face. Kim and Coulson ran out of his office and looked on helplessly.

"How dare you-" Steve was cut off by Laura stepping in between them.

"That is it." She said, clipping the end of each word.

"What?" Asked Steve; not looking at her.

"I'm staying here. You two have a full out war for all I care but until you sort out your differences, I'm staying here." She looked at both of them, challenging either one to say a word.

"Laura-" Tony said, but Laura cut him off by turning away and marching back into Coulson's office and slamming the door.

"Look what you did!" Said Steve, shouting so much that May and Skye appeared at the end of the corridor looking inquisitively at the scene. Skye had tear marks on her cheeks that she hadn't bothered to wipe away.

"Me? You started this by for, for the first time in your life, not following the law." Shouted back Tony, and by the end of his sentence FitzSimmons, Hunter and Bobbi were at the other end of the corridor.

"How can I follow the law when it goes against everything I've ever fought for?" retorted Steve, as a door opened next to Coulson, and Natasha, Clint, Sam, Rhodey, Vision, Wanda and Pietro stepped out, looking worried as their teammates continued to shout at each other.

"You always follow the law, that's what makes you Captain America!" shouted Tony as a man and a woman, holding hands, rounded the corner and pushed their way through the gathering crowd.

The man had tousled brown hair and was substantially taller than the red-haired woman, who wore a black dress and cream trench coat. The man wore a blue checked shirt, with some sort of blue vest poking out from underneath it and black jeans.

"Tony?" asked the man, detaching his hand from hers and walking forwards slowly.

Tony whipped around and relaxed when he saw who it was.

"Peter. _Thank God_ you're here. You support the act, right? Maybe Cap will agree if _Spiderman_ agrees."

Peter sighed, rolled his eyes and turned around quickly to raise his eyebrows at his girlfriend.

"Yeah, I support it." He said, looking uncertainly at the crowds either side of the corridor,

"Hang on… you're Spiderman?" asked Fitz, pushing his way forwards to stand next to Coulson and Kim with his mouth hanging open.

"Yeah…" He said slowly, turning towards the girl once more and winking.

"Peter, MJ, it's good to see you." Said Coulson, shaking Peter's hand and trying to diffuse the tension.

"You too, sir." said Peter, smiling at Kim and Fitz, who nodded their heads at him in turn.

"Peter." Said Steve, stepping towards him cautiously.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"You know what it means if you support this, right? Your secret identity, which you've worked so hard to keep since you were _15_ will be gone. Think about May and MJ here. Can you afford that?" Steve said, his stormy blue eyes full of warning.

"What choice do I have? Sign it and keep my family safe, or go to jail and risk them dead at the hands of the Green Goblin or worse. I can't risk that. I can't risk _them_." Replied Peter, who reached behind him and took his girlfriend's hand.

Steve nodded, and cast a longing look towards the still shut door of Coulson's office, before looking Tony dead in his dark brown eyes and taking a step backwards.

"Well then, whoever wants to can join me can. I'm not standing for this and no-one who doesn't want to should. Laura, I know you're listening… I love you and I'll see you soon. Coulson, I'm so sorry for all the trouble I'm about to inevitably cause." He heaved a small sigh and then pushed Coulson into Tony and Peter and ran in the opposite direction, throwing FitzSimmons in one direction and Bobbi and Hunter in the other and disappearing down the corridor.

Tony staggered to his feet and glanced at his team-mates, who had all gone impeccably pale, even Vision was looking pale, which was odd for a robot.

"Well?" he asked them, staring them each in the eyes accusingly.

Sam swallowed tentatively, before sprinting in the direction of Steve, closely followed by Wanda, Pietro, Clint, Natasha and Vision.

"Don't try and stop us, Stark." called Natasha over her shoulder as she turned the corner and disappeared from sight.

Tony put his hand on his forehead and glanced at his allies that were left: Peter, Rhodey and Coulson… was Coulson an ally though? He had that weird man-crush on Steve which made things hard to tell sometimes.

"Do I have the support of S.H.I.E.L.D, Director?" he asked, getting uncomfortably close to the man who had been there since basically his beginning as Iron Man.

"I think so… as long as my powered Agents have the choice to follow you or Steve as well. I won't make them go against their principles." Replied the dark-haired man, glancing at Skye with a questioning look in his brown eyes, asking a question without speaking that would inevitably be answered later.

Tony agreed, then what remained of the Avengers left S.H.I.E.L.D. to find more allies, with Tony promising Skye a place on the Avengers if she chose to join them.

* * *

As soon as they left, Kim went to fetch Laura from her hiding place in Coulson's office.

When she entered, Laura was sat on one of the chairs facing Coulson's desk with tears still flowing down her pale face and onto her turquoise sundress.

"What did he do?" she asked shakily, her hands fumbling with the golden ring on her finger.

"Oh, you know… just pushed Coulson into your dad and Peter then ran off, knocking FitzSimmons, Hunter and Bobbi into a wall." She said casually, pushing her mousy brown hair out of her face.

Laura chuckled slightly and wiped her eyes, getting up and walking towards the door.

"Something bad's about to happen. I can feel it in my bones, Kim. Something will happen and someone will have to pay the price. Whether it be Tony, Coulson, Steve… any of us. Someone will pay, and nothing will be the same." She said, with so much warning in her British accent that Kim so often found comfort in when she had had enough of the American twang of her friends and colleagues.

"I know." She replied, and followed Laura out of Coulson's office.


	5. Chapter 4: Was That Necessary?

Tony was an idiot. Kim decided this yesterday when he had forced Peter to unmask in front of a load of Paparazzi. Which made jaws drop from Coulson's entire team (Plus Kim and Laura), who had assembled in Coulson's office for the press conference that Tony had held for the announcement.

 _24 hours earlier_

" _So apparently Tony has called some sort of press conference with Spiderman… so this can't be good." Announced Coulson to the gathered team inside his office._

" _Oh God what's he going to do?" moaned Laura into the palms of her hands._

" _I reckon he'll be doing cartwheels in the Iron Man suit whilst Parker juggles champagnes bottles naked." Replied Hunter with a smirk._

 _Laura glared, and Kim was desperately holding back a snort as she got that mental image._

" _Well I doubt that, but you never know with Stark…" said Coulson, with a twinkle in his eye. He gained yet another death glare from Laura. She was giving those a lot lately, and Kim, FitzSimmons, Hunter, Coulson, May and Skye had a bet on to see who could get the most by the end of the week. So far Hunter was winning, because he seemed to piss her off the most._

 _Coulson turned to the screen as the conference started, and Tony and Peter walked on the screen, Tony in a crisp pinstriped suit and Peter wearing his Spiderman costume._

 _Kim had tuned out of the dull stuff but was suddenly jolted back to earth by Laura grabbing her arm as Peter unmasked onscreen and his face was lit up in camera flashes._

 _Kim looked around, and everyone's eyes were popping out of their heads, and their jaws seemed to hang off their faces as the conference ended and the screen turned off._

" _Well…" started Fitz through the awkward silence that followed._

" _Yeah…" replied Kim, her eyes darting around the room._

" _That was…" muttered Coulson, locking eyes with Laura for her moment._

" _I'm going to kill him." Laura replied to Coulson's silent question._

" _Which one?" joked Hunter, earning him another death stare._

" _Both of them. Father dearest for persuading Peter to unmask and Peter for allowing himself to be persuaded. I don't think Tony understands that Steve's going to hit back." Laura said, anger present in her voice and a fire in her brown eyes that Kim had never seen before._

 _Present day_

"He's hit back." said May suddenly, holding her tablet, and showing Laura.

"Pictures on social media show a superbattle is happening in downtown Manhattan between billionaire Tony Stark's Iron Man, Peter Parker, AKA Spiderman and the War Machine versus Captain America and his team of fugitives working against the recent registration act." Read Laura aloud, her voice getting more tired and more exasperated with every word. "Oh perfect. What are we going to do? Let's face it- Pepper and I are the only ones who can talk actual sense into either of them, and if I go near a 'superbattle' Steve won't talk to me for another two months because I've 'endangered myself and the baby' again, and Pepper is currently on the other side of the world doing a business deal."

Coulson massaged his forehead; then looked up and saw that everyone was looking at him for an answer. An answer he neither had nor knew.

"I suppose we could go down there and see what all the fuss is about?" He suggested to a nod in unison from the assembled agents. They all scrambled to get their gear and Kim rushed to the quinjets, Laura in her wake.

"I have to come with you." She said quietly, as Skye and FitzSimmons jogged past them and took a seat in their quinjet.

"Laura, I don't think you have grasped the fact that _you_. _Are. Pregnant_!" Replied Kim as Coulson approached, looking warily at the two Brits.

"Is there a problem?" He asked, stopping at the foot of the ramp leading to the quinjet.

"Please let me come. I'll stay on the jet I swear, but I have to make sure they're all okay. I have friends fighting that battle as well as Tony and Steve." Laura pleaded with Coulson, who kept his wise face perfectly emotion free as he scanned her carefully.

"All right. But if you put a toe out of this jet then I'm telling Steve and Tony that you're there." Coulson warned.

Kim rolled her eyes and Laura nodded and took a seat next to Skye as May entered the jet and they hastily took off.

* * *

The flight took about 45 minutes, during that time Fitz gave regular updates about the raging battle somewhere before them, each update getting more and more severe. By the time they had landed, the worst was apparently over, but some were still fighting.

"Laura, _stay here_ or so help me. Kim, stay with FitzSimmons and help run medical for anyone who needs it. Everyone else, we are _intervening_. We are **not** taking sides and we are not taking prisoners. We are neutral. Does everyone understand?" commanded Coulson, looking over the S.H.I.E.L.D. forces dangerously.

There was a collective "yessir!", and Coulson gave a sharp nod, then winked at Laura and led the Agents out, Kim following quickly and smiling sympathetically at Laura.

They jogged down a street in Manhattan, turned a corner, and then came across what was left of the battle. Cap was fighting Tony; Peter, Rhodey, Natasha and Vision were fighting, and the rest were knocked out, all lying in various states of disarray, strewn across the street.

Coulson waved to Clint, who was shooting at random from the roof of a nearby building. He smiled waved back, as if there was no battle happening around them.

Kim and FitzSimmons got to work, assessing everyone's injuries and giving quick first aid. Ambulances were already on the scene, and Simmons barked out orders at all of them, who followed without hesitation.

Coulson was sprinting towards Steve and Tony, icer in hand and a grim expression on his face.

"Hey!" he called, but neither of them looked. Steve was covered in blood, and Tony's suit was cracked and scratched in various places.

" _HEY!"_ he called again, and caught Steve's attention. Big mistake. Tony, taking advantage of Coulson's accidental distraction, blasted Steve with his repulsors, knocking him down.

"Phil?" called Tony, stepping over Steve and walking towards him.

"What the _hell_ is going on?" Coulson shouted, not lowering his guard as Tony stepped closer.

"We had to apprehend them. They attacked us!" Tony gave his excuse. A poor one, in Coulson's opinion, but an excuse all the same.

"Is that any excuse to knock your own son-in-law unconscious? Or do I need to call Laura from the quinjet to have some words with you?" Coulson all but yelled at Tony, still keeping his guard up, as he saw Steve coming back to consciousness and being hastily treated by Simmons, who was watching their conversation play out with worry and fear in her chestnut eyes.

"It is an excuse to use whatever means necessary to apprehend a known fugitive. Personal ties can't come into play right now. And did you just say that you brought Laura here? Are you _insane_?" Tony fought back with yet more pitiful excuses.

"She insisted, Stark! Don't change the subject." Retorted Coulson, glaring the man he once considered a friend. What he was now… he wasn't sure. In fact, he wasn't sure if anything would ever be the same between any of them ever again.

Then, out of nowhere, following a sudden yell from Simmons, Steve knocked Tony out cold. Tony crumpled and Steve's knees wobbled but he kept himself upright, locking eyes with Coulson as he lowered his shield.

"I had to." He muttered coldly, running his fingers across the area of his gloves where his silver wedding ring sat underneath.

"You didn't have to do anything Steve. That wasn't necessary." Said Coulson, his voice relatively calmer, but it still had a fiery anger in it.

"So what now?" Steve asked, looking away, seemingly in shame.

"I'm not sure if I should take you in or not… I might go and check on Laura and when I get back, you could take the opportunity and run… and I won't be able to apprehend you for this… but if you're still here… I suppose I'll have to take you back to the playground, won't I?" Coulson said, walking slowly backwards, away from Steve. He smiled, then turned and jogged away towards the quinjet.

* * *

"What's going on?" asked Laura the minute she saw Coulson.

"Do you want the truth, the sugarcoated truth or a lie to make you feel better?" asked Coulson, running a hand through his dark hair and shutting his eyes, which were already getting sore.

"Truth." Laura muttered, folding her arms across her chest and standing upright.

"Your dad knocked out your husband then your husband knocked out your father, then I left your husband to get away if he wants to. And apart from that, there's a fight going on between Parker, Rhodey, Vision and Nat. And that's all."

Laura nodded, rolling her eyes.

"Do you need me to go and have a word with them?" she asked, making a move towards the door, before being stopped by Coulson, sighing and went back to her seat.

The two stayed in comfortable silence for an age, until the team and some Avengers straggled back in, taking seats and strapping themselves in.

May strutted onto the jet with a split lip and a black eye, but got into the pilot seat and took off anyway, and it didn't take long for them to be home.


	6. Chapter 5: The Man In The Night

**A/N**

 **So, I've had no reviews on this story at all, and it make me wonder... do you guys actually like this story? Am I doing anything wrong/right? I'd really value some opinions!**

 **Thanks! Enjoy the chapter!**

Laura Stark lay sleeping inside her bunk at the playground. Her pale hand lay across her swollen stomach and her brown hair was spread across the pillows, getting messier with every sleepy turn of her head.

The window to her left slid open- silent as the night- and a blonde man slipped in and landed on the wooden floor. His landing was louder than he anticipated, and her eyes snapped awake. In one swift movement, her hand slipped under her pillow and snatched her pistol and in less than a heartbeat, it was aimed at the dark stranger.

Her eyes adjusted to the darkness as Laura acknowledged the man throwing his hands up in what seemed like mock surrender.

"Oh for gods sake" she spoke, lowering her pistol as soon as she realised it- the messy blonde hair, the less-than-human athletic build? _Steve_.

"Good to see you too." He said back, a trace of a laugh in his voice.

"What the hell are you doing here?! You're a wanted fugitive and if anyone on this base catches you-"

"But they won't" Steve cut across her, raising an eyebrow.

They stayed silent for a second, staring at each other, then Steve crossed the room in three fluid steps and enveloping his wife into a hug.

"I've missed you so much." He whispered into her hair, releasing her and letting his hand slide downwards towards her stomach.

"So have I. It's nightmarish here without you, and I have to deal with dad's constant lectures about your actions. Coulson helps a bit, but what doesn't help is the fact that the man who shot me is in the basement. Sometimes I really need you around." She explained in a whisper, lowering herself back onto her bed, Steve sitting next to her.

"I'm sorry I'm not around darling. If I could, I would end the war right now." he whispered, resting his head in the crook of her neck.

"I know." She said.

"I forget, how much longer do we have until our little soldier is here?" he asked, his eyes resting on her stomach once more.

"'bout two months." Laura answered.

"I don't think I'll see you until then." Muttered Steve, his voice wavering as he tried to hold back tears at the concept of having to leave her again.

"I didn't think so… but if you miss the birth, I'll never forgive you." Laura warned, her threat as deadly serious as the entire war was.

"You'll have to stop your dad from ripping me apart when it happens then…" he muttered. It was supposed to be a joke, but Laura raised both eyebrows.

"I'll try my best."

"But until then… we have about an hour before Sam assumes I've been captured and sneaks in after me…" Steve said, raising his head from her shoulder and bringing his hand up to stroke her soft cheek.

Laura smiled and reached for his cheek, leaning in and giving him a small kiss. Steve responded with more enthusiasm than he had ever before, running both of his hands through her hair and deepening the kiss.

Steve broke away suddenly, and grabbed his vibrating phone from the depths of his pocket.

"Sam?" he asked curtly, reaching over and lacing his hand with Laura's.

" _You've been a long time. Everything okay?"_ Sam asked from down the phone.

"Fine. Everything's absolutely fine. I've only been gone ten minutes! But you know what? I won't be back tonight. Can you follow that lead we got on Bucky instead?"

" _Fine. But if you're not back at base by eight o'clock on the dot, I will come and find you._ " Sam responded, before the phone went dead.

Steve locked his phone, then threw it to the other side of Laura's bed.

"Now… where were we?" he asked, leaning in towards Laura once again.

* * *

At six am, Kim awoke to her phone alarm ringing in her ear. She groaned and slowly reached over to where her phone lay, missing by a long shot and knocking it off her bedside table. She groaned and raised her head from her pillow, her eyes adjusting to the beams of light streaming in from her windows by her bed.

Her phone lay a few inches from where her hand had dropped, and she grabbed it, sat up, and turned off the alarm.

She showered quickly and threw on a pair of black leggings and a S.H.I.E.L.D issue jogging top. As she slipped her blue trainers on, she got a message from Coulson asking for her to wake up Laura; there was a few things he needed to go through with her.

Kim jogged over, passing Skye and Fitz on the way, waving in a hello as she passed.

When she reached Laura's room on the other side of the base, she knocked softly, and heard no reply. After a few seconds she knocked again, louder this time.

Kim rolled her eyes. Laura valued her lie-ins very much, and she was probably just ignoring her. She let herself in, and turned the corner into Laura's room to find Laura fast asleep… with Steve lying next to her.

Laura stirred slightly, and Kim backed out of the room faster than even Pietro ever could, and shut the door, her eyes wide and conflicting feelings running through her head… tell Coulson or tell Tony?

Telling Tony was the easy option. Tell him, and the war would be open in a split second. They both looked dead to the world… he could get here with no fuss, and end the war before something bad happened…

But to tell Coulson would get Laura into so much trouble. Steve as well. But wouldn't they both see it as a betrayal if she told anyone? Alerted even Fitz to their presence… no.

She walked back in and cleared her throat loudly, waking Laura up instantly. Her eyes widened at the sight of her fellow Brit stood at the end of her bed. She shook Steve awake, whose eyes also widened, and he looked apprehensively back and forth between the two women.

"Well this is awkward." Said Laura, biting her lip.

"What are we going to do about this then?" Asked Kim, folding her arms.

"Kim don't say anything. Please." Said Steve, sitting bolt upright and looking dangerously at her, as if to add on ' _or so help me'_

Kim took a deep breath. "I'm gonna go now… and I'm gonna tell Coulson that you just woke up, Laura… so you'll be in his office _where he wants to see you_ in twenty minutes… if you're not there, he'll ask why, and I'll tell him. But if you're early or on time, then what he doesn't know won't help him… understood?" She warned, backing away slowly, never breaking eye contact with Laura.

They both nodded slowly, and Kim sped out of Laura's room, leaving the two in peace.

She stood against Laura's door for a solid minute, getting her beating heart under control, her brain gyrating, trying to make sense of what just happened.

 _So Steve broke into the base last night… to see Laura… and they obviously slept together, then they fell asleep… and he's still here. Why didn't she call Coulson?_

"You okay?" asked a voice, interrupting her stream of thoughts.

Fitz.

Shit.

"Y-yeah… fine. Why?" she said, feigning confidence.

"You've gone all pale, and you're frozen outside Laura's room… I'm not an idiot." Said Fitz, stating the obvious.

Kim didn't say anything, and took a few steps away, struggling for words, as Fitz looked at her, brows creased as if to say 'well?!'

"I… should go and see Coulson. He wanted me to get Laura, but she- she's just got out of bed so… see you later." Kim spilled out, before turning on her heel and jogging away, leaving Fitz looking incredibly confused in the middle of the corridor.

* * *

"She won't tell a soul. I'll make sure." Laura said, watching her husband pulling on his shirt. She had slipped on a black dress and flats as soon as Kim left.

"How?" asked Steve, picking his phone up from Laura's bedside table and checking the time.

6:15.

"I'll have a word with her. We get on well… probably because of our shared love of making fun of your stupid accent." She teased, smirking as Steve approached her, smiling as well.

"I'm not the one with the weird accent, Queen Elizabeth." He said, pulling her into a hug.

"Is that so, Mr. Yankeedoodle?" Laura retaliated, hugging him back.

"Well that's hurtful." Steve said, releasing her and making his way towards the window.

"You know you love me." She teased, releasing him, pecking his lips, and turning away. "See you soon." She muttered, as she heard the window slip open and Steve launch himself onto the roof of the next building.


	7. Chapter 6: The Beginning of the End

**A/N**

 **There are two references to a movie and TV show in this. One is a very subtle reference to Jurassic World, and the other is a more obvious reference to Sherlock! Let me know if you find them! I'll say what they were in the next chapter!**

 _Two months later_

Steve was sure this was it. He stood in the middle of Central Park, New York, facing Tony and his army of Iron Man suits and loyal 'rule-followers'. Behind him was Natasha, Clint, Pietro, Wanda, Vision, Sam, Peter (who had defected several weeks ago), Skye and her inhuman friend Lincoln.

"Tony, I don't wanna do this." He called, and heard a robotic laugh from the central gold and red suit.

"If you don't, then why are you here?" He asked, folding his arms and shrugging at Rhodey, who was to his right.

"To settle things once and for all. This can't go on." Steve answered, taking his shield from where it sat on his back and getting it ready for the inevitable.

Then one of Tony's suits that was uninhabited fired a shot and the chaos began. Everyone from behind Steve and Tony ran forwards and the fight began. Skye and Lincoln took down three suits within seconds, Wanda took down another, Natasha, Peter, Clint and Pietro teamed up to take on war machine as Vision, Sam and Steve took on Tony and the rest of the suits.

Steve reflected an energy blast back at Tony via his shield and threw it in his direction, which struck Tony's arm and knocked him off balance. Sam sent icer bullets at him, hoping against hope one would penetrate his armour and take him out for a while.

Peter had webbed war machine's vision as Pietro spun him in different directions as fast as he could, and Natasha tried to get a good spot to tackle him.

Clint had climbed a nearby tree, and was firing arrows everywhere to help his teammates.

Wanda and Skye were laughing in the middle of destroyed Iron Man suits, as more and more started coming at them, with Lincoln draining the energy of some as they came close, and using the energy to further enhance his power.

* * *

Laura sat inside Coulson's office with Kim, watching the news report of the battle unfold. She was leaning her head back and not really paying attention, staring at the ceiling and counting down until something really bad happened, as it inevitably would in these situations.

The door opened and Coulson, Fitz and Simmons shot in, Coulson talking rapidly to Skye through her earpiece.

Kim shook her head and drowned it all out, smiling weakly at Fitz, then turning her head back to the battle.

It got worse with every second. The hulkbuster had come into play, even though Bruce had vanished several days ago, not wanting to get involved, and Vision had left Tony to Steve and Sam, who were struggling slightly without their omniscient friend.

Laura's head snapped up suddenly, as an obvious twist of pain ran through her body, and showed on her face. She keeled over, gagging and nearly falling off her chair. Kim grabbed her shoulders and Coulson pulled her up.

"Laura, what is it?" he asked, but she couldn't answer as another ripple of pain spread through her. "Tell me what's wrong with you?" he asked; louder and more severe.

"The baby… it's coming." She stammered through panting breaths.

Coulson looked up at Simmons, who shook her head.

"I've never been trained in that field… I have no idea what to do!" she answered, her eyes unnaturally wide.

"Oh _for gods sake_ just get me to the nearest hospital you _idiots!_ " Laura all but yelled, using Kim as a prop and getting to her feet. "And Coulson? Get Steve there. Right now." she growled as Hunter and Bobbi rushed in, and took over getting her to the garage- Hunter picked her up bridal style and ran towards the garage, Bobbi and the others following closely behind.

Coulson got Skye up on his sat phone as he jogged behind the others.

"Sir?" Skye answered immediately, out of breath.

"I need you to stop the battle immediately and get Steve to the nearest hospital. The baby's coming and Laura will kill him if he's not there." Coulson said, entering the garage and hopping into the drivers seat of the SUV with Laura, Fitz and Simmons in the back. May and the rest of the team took the larger SUV and followed them out of the doors.

"Roger that, sir. Over and out." Skye said, before turning off her comm., blowing up another iron man suit and running towards where Steve and Tony now fought.

"Tony! Steve! Stop!" She shouted, throwing her hands out between them.

"Skye what the hell are you doing?" shouted Steve, preparing himself for another round.

"Laura's in labour. We need to go right now!" Skye shouted back, and Steve promptly dropped his shield in shock, and locked eyes with Tony, who had his mask lifted up now.

"Go. For now, a truce." Tony snapped, turning away and starting to talk frantically to Jarvis.

"What hospital?" Asked Steve, picking his shield up and addressing Skye sharply.

"Bridgepoint." She replied. "We can make our own way there. Get Sam to fly you." She said, and ran to gather the team as Sam grabbed Cap's arms and they flew away.

"Skye, where are they going?" Natasha yelled, as the iron man armour she was fighting suddenly turned and started to fly back towards Avengers Tower.

"Laura. The baby's coming now." Skye panted. "We need to get down there. Bridgepoint hospital."  
Natasha nodded, and ran to their hijacked S.H.I.E.L.D. SUV that they had 'stolen' from Coulson when he 'wasn't looking' (They all knew he was, but he didn't exactly want to punish them for it).

The rest of Cap's team jumped inside, and Natasha drove them, as fast as possible, to the hospital.

* * *

Laura and Steve arrived at basically the same time, Steve dropped from out of the sky as Laura was being wheeled in by emergency teams.

When he landed, there was a joint screech of surprise from Laura, the entire medical team, Coulson, Fitz, Simmons and Hunter.

"Oh thank god." Laura breathed, as Steve rushed towards her, the med team looking, open mouthed, at him. They continued in after Steve had explained that he was the father, leaving everyone else outside.

"What do we do now?" Asked Hunter, after they had long since disappeared out of sight.

"Do some of you want to wait out here and others can go in and wait outside for Tony and everyone else?" asked Coulson, making a move to lead Kim, May and FitzSimmons inside. Bobbi nodded and her, Mack and Hunter took a seat on a small bench near the exit.

Hunter sighed, then pulled out his phone.

"Hunter… is that Angry Birds?" asked Bobbi sceptically, leaning over and peering at what he was doing.

"I was halfway through a really difficult round when all this happened. I'm finishing." Hunter retorted, mocking offense. Bobbi just rolled her eyes, and they spent the next hour taking turns at defeating the pigs and waiting for news or more people to arrive.

When the battered SUV finally arrived, ten minutes before Tony, Bobbi was furiously tapping at Hunter's phone, now playing fruit ninja. Natasha shot out of the car and looked at the three agents sat together.

"Where are they?" she asked as a form of greeting. Bobbi didn't even look up, so Mack had to remember where Laura was.

"floor five." He said. "We're now just waiting on Tony and Rhodes, then we can go inside as well. I think it's gonna rain." He said mildly, letting the others troop in, and the three paused their games and laughed when Natasha had to hand over all her weapons, Clint was forced to remove his bow and arrows and Peter even had to take off his web shooters. Skye, Pietro, Lincoln and Wanda smirked at each other as they walked past the hyped up security; they had got away with their powers.

Two hours passed, Tony arrived, earning immense tension in the waiting area from the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Avengers in the room. They barely spoke, except for the grins and snorts every time they heard Laura insult Steve. It was incredibly funny to hear Steve obviously try not to come up with a witty comeback and instead say something to soothe her and help calm her even a little.

Soon, a nurse walked out of the room, smiling.

Coulson and Tony stood immediately, needing any news.

"She's sleeping at the moment, but Steve's got the baby. It's a boy." She said, then walked away down the corridor, avoiding various inhumans and robots as she went.

"A boy!" Tony exclaimed happily almost bouncing up and down at the prospect of a grandson.

"Wonder what they'll call him" piped up Skye from the other side of the room.

"Obviously Leo." Called Fitz from the seat next to Coulson.

Tony scoffed. "No, no, no. They'll name him after his grandfather, obviously." He said, pretending to do a hair toss as a tired Steve walked out of the room, still in his uniform, but no baby.

"Stark, she wants to see you. The rest of you can take it in turns after he's seen Laura." Steve said, and led Tony inside the room.

"Hey there, Mommy dearest!" he said as he sauntered in and caught eyes with a very tired and disgruntled Laura. She rolled her eyes, but handed the small boy over to Tony who laughed and cooed at the little boy, who was sleeping.

"You got a name?" he asked, ignoring Steve a little and directing the question at his daughter.

She looked at Steve, who nodded and watched Tony for his reaction.

"Jamie Clint Rogers. Jamie after Bucky; and the middle name is obvious." She said, smiling up at her father.

"I hear no 'Tony' or 'Anthony' in that name! What does Barton have that I don't?" he said, mocking offence as he handed Jamie back to Steve.

"The next one, if it's a boy." Steve assured without looking up from his sleeping son.

"But… listen, there's something I need to tell you." He said, sudden serious taking over his face.

"Yeah?" Laura said warily.

"Anthony is actually a girl's name. So the next one can totally be called Tony!" he said, and Laura and Steve rolled their eyes but smiled softly.

"Sure…" Laura said, holding her arms out to take Jamie back from Steve, who unwillingly handed him over. "So… did I interrupt something? Because you're both looking rather battered." She said, trying to innocently get them to spill the details of the battle.

Steve and Tony just looked at her, then at each other for a split second, and Tony took it as his cue to leave. He smiled at Laura and ruffled her hair, then, without even glancing at Steve, strode out.

"Really?" asked Steve, folding his arms and looking incredulously at her.

"What? I was just curious!" She whined, pouting slightly. "I'm tired…" she said, her eyes drooping slightly.

"Don't fall asleep just yet… I think we're gonna have to introduce Jamie to the whole team, and more…"

Laura groaned, and propped herself back up, getting comfortable again, but wincing as she sat.

* * *

An hour and what seemed like ten thousand visits later, Laura was sleeping peacefully, with Steve and Coulson watching over her.

"What happens now?" asked Coulson, now watching Steve, who had his head in his hands and had changed into jeans and a spare S.H.I.E.L.D. top.

"This can't go on." He said, as though this made any sense to Coulson.

"What?" he asked warily, although he felt like he knew the answer.

"The war… we have to surrender. Whatever punishment, I'll take it, but I can't keep risking my life when I have a kid to look after." He said, looking at Coulson for advice. Because that was all Steve had ever seen this great man as; a mentor and a friend.

"You'll quit avenging?" Coulson asked sceptically.

"Probably not, but the war is something that will need to stop. If I serve time, so be it, but I can't risk them anymore. It's too much." Steve replied, rubbing his forehead.

"So what, you'll just surrender?" Coulson asked sceptically.

"I suppose I'll have to. What choice do I have?"

* * *

Steve and his team were back in central park, watching several dots get closer and closer from the horizon; Tony and his army of repaired suits.

"Why exactly are we back here?" asked Natasha, who was armed to the teeth once more.

Steve didn't answer, but everyone subconsciously _knew_.

The dots were getting close enough now that they were distinguishable as the trademark red and gold suits of Iron Man.

Then, something Steve didn't expect; a round of bullets from each of the suits. Steve raised his shield and covered himself and Natasha, as everyone else deflected the bullets with powers or hid behind those who had them.

Skye took out her gun and fired back, then using her powers to break apart one of the suits so entirely that it would take months for Tony just to find all the pieces.

Wanda boosted Lincoln up, and he fried the circuits of another suit, rendering it useless.

Pietro broke a suit apart faster than a bullet once it landed next to him, and in less than a second, had all the different components laid out neatly in a line on the side of the battlefield.

Natasha and Peter were once again tackling war machine, the two flexibly avoiding all attacks, and were really starting to bug Rhodey as they got more hits on him than he did on the two combined.

Clint had resumed his earlier position in the tree, once more

Steve was trying desperately hard not to hurt Tony as attack after attack hit him and his shield.

"Tony… stop." He said, deflecting another energy blast.

"Why?" Tony shouted, firing again and nearly knocking Steve over.

"For Laura. I surrender… take me in." Steve said, dropping his shield and taking a step towards Tony.

"What are you doing? They'll throw us in jail if you surrender!" Pietro yelled.

"We were beating them! We were winning back there!" chimed in Peter.

"We were winning everything except the argument. And they're not arresting Captain America... they're arresting Steve Rogers. That's a very different thing." Steve said back at them with incredible calm as Tony lowered himself to the ground and produced a pair of handcuffs from behind him. "Stand down, troops."

The NYPD showed up incredibly quickly after that, taking away all of Steve's team, to await trial next week.

It was over.


	8. Chapter 7: When Bullets Meet Their Mark

**Because they took our love and they filled it up.** **Filled it up with Novocaine  
and now I'm just numb.  
Now I'm just numb.  
\- Novocaine by Fall Out Boy**

 _One week later_

Kim and Laura were leaning against a S.H.I.E.L.D. SUV that was parked opposite a courthouse in Washington DC.

Laura looked pained, Kim thought, looking at the young woman's tired face and eyes full of grief.

"So what happens now?" Kim asked, turning her head to face Laura's.

"He'll most likely be put in a penitentiary for a while. Not for long; the world needs him, but just long enough that he 'learns his lesson'. Them he'll come out and continue doing what he does best." Laura guessed half-heartedly, staring at the car that Steve was about to slip out of.

They both watched in silence as Steve was led out by two armed guards. He looked around at them and locked eyes with Laura. She managed a smile to keep his spirits up, and before he could smile back, he was pulled away.

The seconds seem to drag into ours with every step that Steve took. across the road, through the crowd, then up the pristine white steps towards where his fate lay.

Steve was halfway up the steps when it happened; the shot.

It crashed through the sounds of the camera's clicking and flashing, halting them immediately as the journalists watched in horror as Steve fell to the ground.

Kim clapped her hands to her mouth as salty tears quickly formed in her eyes. There was a shrill cry from next to her, and the next thing Kim knew, Laura was sprinting towards the steps of the court, gun in hand and eyes clouded with grief.

There was another shot, but Laura expertly dodged it and continued. She reached the steps and kneeled by Steve and then pulled and cradled his head in her lap as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents crowded the scene, blocking it off from the surging press as Coulson, Peter and Natasha ran towards Laura and Steve from the SUV parked around the corner.

Kim slowly walked forwards until she, too, was sprinting towards the scene. She pushed through the solid wall of burly agents and slowly climbed the steps to join Coulson, looking around her as the press continued to swarm the scene. Helicopters circled above and the wail of an ambulance sounded in the distance.

The doors of the courthouse burst open and Fury strode out with Tony Stark hot on his heels. They stood next to Kim, Coulson, Natasha and Peter as they watched the inevitable unfold in front of their eyes.

Steve was taking short, raspy breaths as Laura stroked his hair, her tears falling down her face and onto his cheeks.

"You'll get through this… you'll be alright." She whispered, taking his hand and pressing it against her cheek.  
Steve smiled softly, taking his hand that was on Laura's cheek and running it over her hair.  
"I love you." She muttered, shutting her eyes and turning her head away slightly. His hand moved back towards her cheek and she looked back, catching his loving gaze for a moment before he let out a final, shuddering breath and his crystal eyes slid shut. The hand on Laura's cheek thudded to the ground, as Steven Grant Rogers stopped moving.

Laura let out a soft cry as she placed her head against Steve's, her grip on him becoming tighter. Tony moved forward and tentatively placed a hand on Laura's shoulder, crouching down to her level.

Laura looked up and her eyes darkened, her grief taking over her actions. She reached down and picked up her gun, standing and aiming it at Tony, who stumbled backwards, tripping and falling on his back and then getting to his feet, his hands in the air.

"Laur-" he started , edging forwards before Laura shot the step next to his feet.

"Shut up." She warned, this time aiming her gun at him.

"Agent Stark, stand down!" Shouted Coulson, creeping towards her.

"It's his fault." Said Laura in a dangerously calm voice. "If he hadn't been so insistent on that _damn_ registration act, he would still be here. Why a public trial, _dad_? Why would you do that? I'll tell you why…"

Coulson had now stopped moving forwards, and was staring blankly at Tony.

"He wanted the world to know that Tony Stark wins. Because that's just it, isn't it? The winner isn't the public or the government… it's you."

Tony staggered backwards, more hurt than ever evident on his face.

Coulson gently put his hand on Laura's shoulder and tried to pull her away, but she shrugged it off and took a step towards Tony.

Then it happened in a split second…

Laura dropped to the ground, her gun automatically firing and Tony threw himself to the ground. The bullet missed and ricoched off the side of the courthouse as Coulson and Natasha rushed forwards to check on Laura. They rolled her over and Coulson heaved a sigh of relief as they found her unconscious from an icer shot by Hunter on a nearby building.

"How did we let this happen?" Asked Coulson.

* * *

Kim sat on the bus next to Fitz and Simmons. No-one spoke as agents slowly walked backwards and forwards to Coulson's office. The atmosphere was tense, like the aftermath of a devastating explosion.

Then a stretcher, and the heavy, lifeless body of Steve was wheeled through and into the lab.  
Simmons softly sighed, got up and walked over to do the post-mortem.

Fitz put his hand on Kim's and gave her a weak smile. "I sometimes forget how young you are. To go through all of this… you're sixteen and you've killed people. I've had to save you from bullet wounds and worse when you were even younger. How the hell do you do it?" he asked, and Kim noticed how tired he looked. He had dark bags under his eyes, his hair was even more scruffy than usual, his tie was so loose it threatened to undo.

"I forget." She answered honestly. "Sometimes it's better not to think about how most people my age are worrying about GCSE's and A-levels, but I did mine years ago so I could go back to killing people for a living. Sometimes that's best."

* * *

Laura awoke with a start inside the bus holding room. She sat up and immediately felt dizzy; her head swam and there was a strange ringing in her ears. She shut her eyes for a moment, waiting for her body to focus itself. When she opened them properly, she saw clearly; The metallic walls were giving the room an eerie feeling but there were fresh clothes and a small table next to the bed, which made her less afraid. As she slipped into the jeans and pulled one of Steve's checked button-up shirts over herself she remembered what had happened.

She sat down, staring at the floor as fresh tears sprung to her eyes quicker than the memories that followed. A shot, then Steve fell down.

He was dead.

Coulson stepped in at the moment when the realisation hit her. He looked at her sympathetically as she slid off the bed and sobbed, pulling at her hair and curling in on herself.

"He's gone isn't he?" She asked between sobs, not looking at him. Coulson walked over and sat down next to her, putting one arm around her.

"Yeah." He whispered, holding her down as she tried to get up. "Laura, stay here for a bit. Get it all out." Laura stayed very still for a few moments, then looked up at him, steady tears still falling from her face.

Coulson looked like he had been crying as well. His eyes were red, and there were dark splotches on his blazer.

"Did you catch the killer?" She muttered, brushing her matted and lifeless hair out of her face.

"We did, but that piece of information can wait." He said, trying to avoid the question at all costs.

"Coulson… just tell me." Laura said. "It can't get worse than it already is."

Coulson sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Fine… you remember we had to hand Ward over to the US government a few years back?" Coulson asked, and Laura nodded slowly, fearing what was coming next. "He escaped, and we've been bumping into him every now and again ever since. It was him. He's back in our custody."

"Ward?" Laura questioned slowly, standing up and facing the still sitting down Coulson.

He nodded, and Laura snapped away, running her hands through her hair as anger once again clouded over her grief.

"Why does he always _screw things up_ in my life? Why?! Why _me_? He can never seem to _leave me alone_ and it's _**NOT FAIR**_!" she yelled at no-one in particular; picking up a bottle of water that had been placed by her bed, she threw it at the wall. It bounced off and nearly hit Coulson. She ran forward and pounded against the reinforced wall until she had no strength left. She slid back down aimlessly and curled up into a tight ball, starting to sob again.

"You should know… he reacted very similarly when he found out you died. He nearly smashed a window in the Triskellion before Fury and I could hold him down." Coulson said to her, and Laura gave out a weak chuckle.

"That's so him." She whispered. "Do you remember when Tony nearly beat him up when he found out Steve got me pregnant?" she laughed at the memory; Tony had gone as far as to put on his suit and chase Steve around the playground. Steve was smirking the whole time, and outran Tony enough that FitzSimmons were able to hide him inside the lab before Tony had even rounded the corner.

Coulson laughed at the memory as well. "Or the time when you, Natasha and Clint put whipped cream on his hand when he was asleep, then he chased you guys until he caught up to you and rubbed the rest of the cream on your face?" He asked, and Laura snorted at the memory.

"That was before we were married… I thought he was so mad until he rubbed the cream on my face then kissed me." Laura added, laughing even more.

They spent the next hour like that; sharing their memories of him. Laughing and crying together. Steadily, more people joined them to recount their memories together, until Natasha, Clint, Skye, Sam, Vision, Wanda, Pietro and FitzSimmons had joined them. They were all sat together in a circle, their laughter numbing the grief as they kept the memory of Steve Rogers alive.


	9. Chapter 8: At The End of the Day

**A/N**

 **I apologise for the last chapter... I really am sorry...**

It was raining. That was as much as Laura registered as she got into the coal black SUV. The journey was quick. Too quick.

Laura wore a black dress with lace layered over the top and making up the sleeves. When she stepped out of the car, her foot slipped and she stumbled into Coulson, who was holding a black umbrella, open above his head, and he steadied her with his free arm. She smiled weakly and walked towards the gate of the church.

She supposed the church should be pretty. After all, she had been married here. It was older than most, with Ivy growing up the cold stone walls and half-worn gravestones.

She was halfway down the cobblestone path when she turned, to see a man with long black hair leaning against a tree on the far side of the graveyard. She stopped, and pointed him out to Coulson, before marching towards him, sheltering her hair from the rain.

"Bucky Barnes?" she asked tentatively, locking eyes with him.

"I suppose I was once… and you are?" he drawled, a hint of remorse in his voice.

"Steve's wife." Laura said, as if it was obvious.

"Jesus, I never thought that kid would get hitched…" he said, laughing softly.

"Why weren't you there?" she cut him off, folding her arms and taking a step closer.

"I-" he tried to answer.

"You could have helped. He needed all the help he could get and you didn't do anything. You stayed in the shadows. But do you know something? He always believed you'd come back. He believed you'd be friends again, and you could put the past behind you. He never, for one second, doubted you. Over there, Agent Simmons is pushing a pram with a baby in it. That baby is our son. Do you want to know his name?"

Bucky closed his eyes, already knowing the answer.

"Jamie Clinton Rogers. After you. That was all Steve; he wanted to remember you, no matter what happened next."

Bucky opened his eyes and just stared at her for a moment, then watched Simmons push the pram into the church and out of sight.

"Nostalgic prat." He muttered, smiling slightly.

"Well that 'nostalgic prat' believed in you. And for one shining moment… so did I." Laura said.

"What exactly was the point of you coming over here? To shame me?" He snapped, almost switching back into the Winter Soldier mind-set once more.

"To recruit you. Coulson needs more people, and we can help you at the same time. Don't accept now… sleep on it and let me know. You know where to find me." Laura said, then turned away to re-join Coulson and together they entered the church.

* * *

Kim got back from the funeral with Fitz and Hunter early. They hadn't wanted to stay long and intrude on The Avengers or anyone else who had known Steve better than they had. Kim collapsed on the sofa as Fitz went to make a pot of tea.

"Well that was depressing…" she muttered, making Hunter smile from across the room.

"Tell me about it… but did you see Stark? He looked more upset than Laura if that's even possible." Hunter agreed, pointing out something the other two had vaguely noticed as well.

"He blames himself." Fitz shouted from the kitchen. "It was his decision to have a public trial, and that's where he died, so he blames himself."

Kim nodded slowly, taking the steaming mug from Fitz. "It makes sense." She agreed, taking a sip of her tea. "Bloody hell, Fitz; did you put sugar in this?" she asked, making a face at the taste.

"You take sugar?" Fitz said, looking incredulously at her.

Kim rolled her eyes and stomped over to the kitchen to put sugar in the tea.

"You've gotta feel bad for Laura though… husband dead, father blames himself and on top of all that, a baby to look after single handed." Fitz said, mind returning to the funeral.

"Yeah… imagine if, after all that, she gets inhuman powers or something… wouldn't that just be the tip of the iceberg?" Hunter said, chuckling slightly.

"She doesn't know who her mother is, so you never know." Kim said as she took up her previous stance of being sprawled over the sofa.

"Never know what?" asked Coulson from the doorway.

"Nothing, sir." Kim said immediately, sitting up and smirking into her tea.

"Good. I just wanted to warn you guys that Laura and the rest of the Avengers will be back in about five minutes, so please be careful what you say and how you approach them. _Especially Laura_." He warned, glaring at the three.

There was a murmured 'yes sir' from all three, and Coulson vanished in the direction of his office.

"Jeez… am I the only one wanting to avoid them?" asked Kim when she was sure Coulson was out of earshot.

"Nope… I might go back to my room." Hunter agreed, making a move to get up, as Laura stepped into the room. The trio froze.

"Hi Laura." Kim said in a very high voice. She looked exhausted; there were only faint traces of the subtle makeup she had on earlier left on her face, she held her heels in one of her hands and the other one was holding Steve's shield.

"Is the kettle on?" she asked, in a surprisingly breezy voice. Fitz nodded, and Laura dumped her shoes in the corner and pushed the shield into his arms.

"Of course, it's not bad enough that it's my husband's funeral… my four week old baby just had to start crying in the middle of it, didn't he?" Laura said, almost laughing at the situation.

"Typical." Fitz agreed quietly.

Laura strolled forwards with her own steaming mug of tea, switched on the television to the side of the room and started to flip through the channels.

"Funeral, funeral, funeral… do the news have anything else to report on? Funeral, Nazi's were bad, funeral, funeral, a bad Superman movie, Twilight, ugh no, funeral… Ah, Harry Potter and the fire cup. Perfect." Laura was right about one thing, the news weren't showing anything but footage of them walking in and out of the church.

"Harry Potter and the _fire cup_? Hunter repeated, half laughing, half offended at the name she called it.

"Fire cup, goblet of fire… same thing." She said half-heartedly.

Fitz snorted and settled down to watch as well.

During the course of the film, everyone who was at the funeral filed in, and by the time Voldemort had killed Cedric Diggory, the entirety of the Avengers were in the small room, along with Bobbi, Skye, Simmons, May and everyone else.

By the time the film ended, everyone was so engrossed in their own respective conversations about the film that no-one noticed Laura get up and leave.

She slipped down corridor after corridor until she reached her destination: vault D.

"Hi Ward." She said as she reached the seat facing his cell.

"Now what? Can't I be left in peace for once?" he asked angrily, glaring at her.

"No. I'm here to ask you how you brought me back to life." She said simply. The thought had been plaguing her mind for a while, and it was only now she realised how much she wanted to know.

"How do you know I did bring you back to life? How do you know you weren't still alive and we just worked a miracle?" He asked. He was trying to get inside her head. She wouldn't let him.

"Because I wasn't here anymore. I was there. I remember it; it was beautiful… more so than anything I've ever seen. And then I was dragged away, and I was back. It was like turning off the lights then turning them back on again. I just blinked back into existence." Laura explained quietly. The only person she had ever admitted this to was dead.

"Fine… if you must know, ask Coulson or Skye. It's the same method that was used on them."

Laura glared, but strutted away towards Coulson's office. On a day when her whole world ended, she needed answers.


	10. Chapter 9: Welcome to the new age

**A/N**

 **this is an INCREDIBLY short chapter because I lack inspiration... but it's also the last chapter of this fic... There may be a fourth and final story about Laura Stark coming as soon as I can write chapters! Until then, an end credits scene will be coming either later tonight or tomorrow!**

 **~ TTB**

"So what do you think? Will you take it?" Coulson asked Kim, holding out the classified file for her to take.

"A chance to train up teenagers to be the next Nat? And you're choosing me to be in charge… I wouldn't know where to start." Kim admitted, looking away from the man.

"That's why you'll learn as much as they will." Coulson said. "I trust you, Kim. This is the best thing for you right now. A chance to get away from all the drama and do something good."

"Are you sure this is where you want me to go?" Kim asked as she apprehensively took the file.

"I've never been more certain of anything in my life."

* * *

Laura marched through the corridors towards Coulson's office. She had to ask… had to know how he was brought back; how she was brought back. he had never really told her what happened, and all the worst things were swimming trough her head; body probes, illegal drugs, anything to do with aliens... She was so deep in thought she nearly walked into Kim as she left his office.

"Whoa, are you okay?" Kim asked as she picked up the file she had dropped.

"Is Coulson in there?" Laura asked, ignoring Kim's question.

"Yeah…" Kim started, and tried to go on but Laura immediately stalked past her and went straight into the office.

"Laura?" Coulson asked as soon as he acknowledged who had burst into his office.

"How did they bring you back?" she asked, cutting to the chase straight away.

"I hardly think…" Coulson started, but saw the look of desperation on her face and sighed. "I was dead. I promise I was. There was a project, and an experimental alien drug. Called project T.A.H.I.T.I. the drug caused immediate cellular repair, and they used it on me. It repaired the tear in my heart, and I was brought back."

Laura nodded and looked away.

"Why? You said you didn't want to know." Coulson questioned, moving closer to the girl.

"I talked to Ward." She muttered, facing him. "He said they used the same stuff on me as they did on you."

"What?" Coulson exclaimed, stepping back with his eyes wide.

"Yeah, he said…"

"Listen to me now because this is very important. Have you seen the writings I did a while ago?" He asked frantically.

Laura nodded in reply.

"And you haven't… had any urges to write the same thing? At any point since you saw it?" He asked again, trying to be casual.

"No… Coulson, are you okay?" Laura asked, worried.

"Go get Skye. Sorry, Daisy. Go and get Daisy now." Coulson said in the calmest voice he could muster.

Daisy walked slowly into the room behind Laura, a confused look on her face.

"Sir? Is everything okay?" she asked uncertainly.

"Laura, can you leave the room for a moment please?" Coulson asked, ignoring Daisy.

Laura nodded and exited in the direction of Jamie.

"Sir?" Daisy asked again, moving slowly towards him.

"Laura talked to Ward. He told her that he used GH325 to bring her back."

"What?" Daisy exclaimed. "But… she saw the writings, didn't she? She tried to give input on what they could be." She said slowly, piecing things together.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking what I'm thinking?" Coulson asked, and Daisy slowly nodded, looking up at Coulson.

"She's Inhuman."


	11. End Credits Scene

**A/N**

 **So this is the last chapter, then I'll be creating a new story about Laura's life after Steve!**

 **I have no idea what it'll be called... but keep an eye out!**

 **~TTB**

 _26 years ago_

Jaiying moved slowly through the LA streets, hood up and face down. She had lost everything; Cal, their village, Daisy… her beautiful little girl was gone. _They_ took her. _They_ stole her away. She was only a baby. A ting little baby that had to fend for herself because of that organisation. That damn agent who ripped Daisy from her arms and ran, never looking back.

And now they were after her. They would find her eventually, but Jaiying was confident she could stay on the run for a while longer.

"Hey, are you okay?" came a voice. She walked straight into the voice, before stumbling backwards and staring up into the handsome face.

Black hair, small goatee… he reminded her of Howard Stark, but he was much too young… and Howard Stark died last year. Jaiying remembered reading about it in Afterlife.

"Fine… Just, bad few days." She said, and returned the comforting smile not-Howard-Stark gave her.

"I'm Tony."

"Jaiying."

"Nice name, Chinese?" Tony asked, smiling and crossing his arms.

"Yeah. That's where I'm from." Jaiying explained.

"Nice. Do you need a place to stay? You look cold, and the LA streets are no place for someone like you at this time of night."

"Are you sure?" Jaiying asked, eyeing Tony suspiciously.

"'course. And if anything bad happens to you, just tell the world that Tony Stark is to blame, and leave the kid in England. England's usually a good place for leaving children on doorsteps…" Tony joked, smiling down at Jaiying.

"Tony _Stark_? As in Howard's son?" Jaiying asked, ignoring the remark about England.

"That's me."


End file.
